In it’s hour-long premiere, the show proves to be an awkward mix of shows Modern Family and Arrested Development with other shows like Seventh Heaven and ABC’s 1999 serious series Once and Again. And of course Graham appears to still think she’s playing Lorelai Gilmore from Gilmore Girls, her older headline, and speaks faster than the ear can interpret. This time, her whole “incompetent mother” shtick just isn’t funny. Because it isn’t supposed to be.

ABC’s Once and Again

The issue? The subject matter has the potential to be funny – a kid wears a pirate costume to school, the family’s patriarch is overly machismo and too loud at his grandchildren’s sports games, a son has a biracial child he didn’t know existed, and a troubled teen gets arrested for pot possession.

But we don’t laugh. Instead, Howard decided to try a different route and examine these problems instead of poking fun at them. What’s more, the show is peppered with cheesy guitar fills and Nissan commercials starring members of the cast…because it’s the car for a real family with real problems.

Advertised as an awkward-yet-funny sitcom, Parenthood tries to be something it just isn’t

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In high school, I went on a spur-of-the-moment trip with my friend to a store called Lover’s Package. It was like a was like an adult Toys “R” Us — the store advertised on TV, did promotions on the radio, used colorful glossy signage, and had 20 different locations.

Since “Sex on Thursdays” has already covered online dating and text message break-ups, the only technological advance that has affected our generation’s love and sex lives that has yet to be discussed is cybersex. So without further ado, welcome, adoring fans (or more accurately, adoring “Notes From Abroad” fans who saw my column below and decided it would be better to read this than pay attention in Math 1920), to Cybersex 101.